FEAR: Dr. Walter Cannon, a pioneer researcher in psychosomatic medicine at Harvard Univ., describes what happens to the human body when it becomes angry or fearful: "Respiration deepens; the heart beats more rapidly; the arterial pressure rises; the blood is shifted from the stomach and intestines to the heart, central nervous system, and the muscles; the processes of the alimentary canal cease; sugar is freed from the reserves in the liver; the spleen contracts and discharges its contents of concentrated corpuscles, and adrenalin is secreted." You don’t want to hold all of that in! It will make you sick!
Ps 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Ps 27:2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Ps 27:3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Ps 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
Ps 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
At the time of the writing of this Psalm
the writer was pursued by enemies
Ps 27:2-3 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
, was shut out from the house of the Lord,
Ps 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
GBN – nothing grieved David as much as this one thing, that I may not praise your name in the midst of the congregation.
was just parting from father and mother,
Ps 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
GBN - He magnifies God’s love toward his, which far passes the most tender love of parents towards their children.
and was subject to slander,
Ps 27:12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
Another writer says there is not a lot of background of this Psalm, “it is a general idea. God can be trusted ... no matter what.
David speaks in generalities of battle, worship, repentance and confidence.”
God will take care of you because:
1. He is the source of your strength
2. He will lead you in plain Paths vs. 11
3. He never forsakes his own
1. He is the source of your strength
a. FEAR: Shohoiya Yokowai spent 28 years of his life in prison. It was not a prison of bars & locks & wardens, but a self-imposed prison of fear. He was a Japanese soldier on the island of Guam during WW2. And when the American forces landed, he fled into the jungle & found a cave in which he hid for 28 years because he was afraid of being captured by the Americans.
He learned that the war was over by reading one of the thousands of pamphlets dropped into the jungle. But he was afraid. So for 28 years he lived in the cave, coming out only at night to look for roaches & rats & frogs & mangoes on which he survived.
Finally some natives found him & convinced him that it would be all right for him to come out of his jungle prison.
b. When we fear God is our strength.
c. Vs. 1 TOD - With the Lord himself pledged to be the strength of our life, of whom need we be afraid?
d. Tim Darling - An experiment was recommended to Him. A way of training your mind to solve new problems. Walk through your house in the dark with your eyes closed.
Without light, you use your other senses to avoid obstacles. In the dark, what will deliver you from tripping? Probably your sense of touch.
In treacherous times, David found that God was what helped him feel his way through. This Psalm is not an abstraction. David is not speaking theoretically or spiritually. He is speaking of real, military enemies, people who have the potential of killing him. He is describing situations he has experienced and can reasonably expect to experience again. God has protected him in battle in the past and David is certain that this will continue.
• God was with him against Goliath
• God was with him against the Philistines
• God was with him against Saul
• God was with him against the Jebusites
• God was with him against his own son Absalom
God is our source of strength, and will lead us along.
2. He will lead you in plain Paths vs. 11
e. Author Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie who had a very bad day. It began when the bird’s owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone.
In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag. There was Chippie, covered in dirt and gasping for air. She carried him to the bathroom and rinsed him off under the faucet. Then, realizing that Chippie was cold and wet, she reached for the hair dryer! Chippie never knew what hit him.
His owner was asked a few days later how he was recovering. "Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares."
Things come our way and hit us broad side. We end up stunned and wondering what happened. If we remain teachable, God will lead us along and when things come in and hit us….God can help us with our footing making it smooth.
f. Ps 27:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
g. FBN - Plain path; that is, a level path, where there is no danger of stumbling. (I realize in WV the only level path here is man made)
h. Ps 26:12 My foot standeth in an even place
i. enemies--literally, "watches for me to fall"
j. In 2001 governors of the western United States were warned by the Federal government about possible terrorist attacks on their bridges. Transportation officials scurried to tell people that the bridges were safe in spite of the warnings.
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was used as a backdrop to this news story. One transportation official standing by the Golden Gate was telling why this particular bridge was secure.
Every bit of concrete, all the pavement, and every bit of steel in that entire bridge - all of it, relates one piece to another. Every piece of metal in that bridge finally relates to two giant cables, that finally come up to two great piers that go down into bedrock, and two anchors out on each side. That’s the genius of a suspension bridge - EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF METAL, EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CONCRETE, IS PREOCCUPIED WITH ITS FOUNDATION.
David’s life was like a suspension bridge. Everything was tied into God. He used the house of God as a focal point for his relationship to God.
k. God will lead you in the level paths it is up to us to keep the relationship alive.
We can be assured, God is our strength and He will never forsake his own.
3. He never forsakes his own
l. Ps 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
m. Ps 27:3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
n. Mr. Salu - The word “host” vs 23 means there is a troop of soldiers or a military force. It implies that there are a lot of enemies. It means that they have set up their camps round about the person and are waiting for an opportunity to attack him. The word “encamp” is a military term and so an attack is imminent or inevitable. The purpose of encamping around someone is to surround him round about so that he cannot escape and then attack him.
o. Brian Atwood - "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."
Spiritual warfare requires confidence. But that confidence is not solely in our strength and abilities. If that were the case we would have occasion to be afraid.
Our confidence in God is what challenges the enemy. Our enemy begins to see our confidence and becomes the one experiencing fear.
p. The consistent message of the Bible - that we are to look to God, and not to our surrounding or people.
q. Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
r. Isa 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
s. David has confidence and peace, not because there were no serious storms in his life, but because he had a stronghold of life
t. One tribe of native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods. By himself. All night long.
Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked. No doubt it was a terrifying night for many.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy’s father. He had been there all night long.
My faith looks up to thee,
My faith looks up to thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Saviour divine!
Now hear me while I pray;
Take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day be wholly thine.!
May thy rich grace imaprt
Strenght to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire;
As thou hast died for me.
O may my love to Thee
Pure, warm and changeless be,
A living fire.
While life’s dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my guide;
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow’s tears away,
Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside.
1. He is the source of your strength
2. He will lead you in plain Paths vs. 11
3. He never forsakes his own
